Horror in a hijab

14 October 2015 - 02:03 By Jerome Cornelius and Farren Collins

An anonymous call to Cape Town security officials about two suspicious men at the city centre railway station was followed minutes later by a wild shooting spree before one of the gunmen turned his weapon on himself. Police are trying to identify the man who killed himself. They believe his identity may shed some light on the motive for the bizarre shooting, which sent commuters running for their lives at noon.No one else was injured.City of Cape Town safety and security chief JP Smith said a woman called the Central City Improvement District office at the station about "suspicious-looking men in black hijabs, wearing regular gloves with latex gloves over them"."The woman said hijabs were traditionally worn by women and seeing men in them caught her attention."When CCID officers approached the men they ran away and fired shots at the CCID officers. One of the men shot himself dead, while the other escaped.Police spokesman FC Van Wyk said they would not speculate about the motive for the shooting.While police say there were two people involved, Anele Sanda, a vendor who witnessed the shooting, said he was walking back to his stand from the east side of the station when he noticed three men in black kurtas (long shirts) and black beanies. They appeared to know each other, and an argument broke out."They started arguing very badly. One of them started running towards [the west side of the station] and another started chasing him. Both had guns but only the one at the back was shooting. He finished an entire magazine then threw it on the ground and put in a new one."The third man left through a different exit, according to Sanda, who also said the men rolled down their beanies to reveal balaclavas with eye holes."The man who was being chased escaped through the exit [on the west side]. The second man then ran onto the platform where he shot himself."Metrorail spokesman Riana Scott said one of the entrances at the station had been closed from 1.30pm to 4pm for the duration of the police's on-site investigation."The train service remained operational ... Metrorail is co-operating with SAPS and awaits further details on the incident."One terrified commuter tweeted that "I ran for my life like hundreds of others. It was chaos and scary!", while another said the shooting " freaks me out"...

There’s never been a more important time to support independent media.

From World War 1 to present-day cosmopolitan South Africa and beyond, the Sunday Times has been a pillar in covering the stories that matter to you.

For just R80 you can become a premium member (digital access) and support a publication that has played an important political and social role in South Africa for over a century of Sundays. You can cancel anytime.

Already subscribed? Sign in below.



Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.